Super duo disappoint as Hagino 'steals' 200m freestyle

Incheon, South Korea - Sun Yang injured his left hand while Park Tae-hwan lost the gold medal he should have won.

The super duo, who were supposed to dominate the 200m freestyle final at the Incheon Asian Games, became fellow sufferers on Sunday evening when Japanese swimmer Kosuke Hagino benefited from their tussle to stun the Munhak Park Tae-hwan Aquatics Center by stealing the gold medal in one minute 44.28 seconds.

Sun walked past the press mixed zone in disappointment and anger after the race without stopping after finishing 0.05 sec behind Hagino.

Sun also left the post-race press conference prematurely after taking only one question, citing that he had to treat the injury to his left hand that he suffered in the finish.

Sun's reaction following the loss drew complaints from Chinese media.

"It seems that he just couldn't afford the loss and he tried to avoid facing the media. He kind of escaped," said Tao Ye, a reporter with sohu.com.

The media hype and high expectation for the heavyweight clash between Sun and Park made the atmosphere extremely intense in the natatorium, which was named after Park.

Sun admitted that he'd paid too much attention to outperforming Park while neglecting Hagino, who came up from behind strongly in the last 50m leg.

"My performance in the first 150m was good but I wasn't as fast as I was supposed to be in the last leg," the 23-year-old Sun said after the race.

"I'd just returned to systematic training for a short period of time. Though I've made progress in speed, my aerobatic endurance especially for the last-leg sprint hasn't recovered to maximum. I also have to work on my finishing skills."

Park finished third in 1:45.85 in what is considered his strong event, which he won at both the 2006 Doha and 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, missing out on the triple-crown achievement in front of thousands of cheering local fans.

Still, the local favorite appeared unfazed at the press conference, where he shook hands with Sun before his opponent left midway.

"I am very sorry that I did not manage to meet our goal," Park said.

"It's true that it was very burdensome. I have the swimming pool named after me and there were many people talking about the triple-crown, winning three Asian Games in a row. I also wanted to do that, but it's very difficult to do that."

Hagino, who was runner-up at the 400m freestyle at the 2013 World Championships, proved again that he's more than just a flash in the pan.

Still, the 20-year-old remains modest.

"I thought before the race that this would be the two-giant race and I didn't expect to win. I tried to be a good challenger to them. I tried to break my personal record. I was surprised to win.

"If Park and Sun had competed at their best, I couldn't have won tonight. I tried to catch them as much as possible. Certainly this win gives me some confidence but I am still behind them."

Contact the writer at sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn